Currently, with regard to window lift motor assemblies for vehicles, customers require both a left hand motor assembly 5 and a right hand motor assembly 6 as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, respectively. Thus, the customer needs to distinguish between two different motor assemblies. The need for two different motor assemblies increases tooling costs and set-up cost of an assembly line.
An exploded view of a conventional window lift motor assembly is shown in FIG. 3. An electric motor 10 is coupled to a gear housing 12. The gear housing contains a gear axle 14 that carries a gearwheel 16 for rotation. The gearwheel 16 is rotated via a worm 20 the motor 10. Rotation of the gearwheel 16 rotates a driver 18. The driver 18 is coupled to a customer's drumhousing to move a window. A shock absorber 22 between the gearwheel 16 and driver 18 acts as a dampener at the maximum torsional load. With this structure, it is possible that the motor 10 will lock-up if the gear axle 14 bends due to high torque generated from the motor since the center to center distance between the gear axle and worm shaft of the motor increases beyond a given specification.
Further, in the motor assembly of FIG. 3, to provide a leak proof configuration, a coverplate 24 is coupled to the gear housing 12 via an interference fit between plastic and rubber materials. This configuration requires very tight tolerances and thus adds to the cost of the assembly.
Accordingly, there is a need to provide a gear unit for a motor assembly that can be used in place of both left and right hand window lift motor assemblies, that eliminates the gear axle, and that has an improved cover connection.